The Department of Education has announced the availability of $75 million in support of the First In the World Program. The program will support grants to institutions of higher education to spur the development of innovative approaches and strategies that will improve postsecondary educational access and outcomes

Applications must address one of five “absolute” priorities— including increasing access and completion for underrepresented students, increasing collect, increasing transfer rates to 4-year colleges, increasing enrollment and completion of underrepresented students in STEM program, reducing time to degree, and improving college affordability. All projects must focus on truly innovative approaches, must meet the evidence standard of strong theory at the entry point, and must include a strong evaluation component.

Webinars for the program took place on May 28th and June 4th. An archived copy of the May presentation is available here.  The Words for Good team has spent considerable time exploring this announcement and would welcome the opportunity to work with potential applicants.

Institutions of higher education and consortia of such institutions are eligible to apply. Ed anticipates making up to 38 four-year awards of approximately $3 million each. Applications are due June 30, 2014.